Hannu Lintu conducts Sibelius's Symphony No. 4

Finnish maestro Hannu Lintu presents and conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in all seven bold and unique symphonies by their celebrated compatriot Jean Sibelius!

Due to the historical context of its genesis—as well as its stormy intensity—Sibelius's Fourth Symphony in A Minor, premiered in 1911, has long been associated with the phenomenon of psychoanalysis. The composer himself came to refer to the work as "a psychological symphony," and his own brother Christian Sibelius (a psychiatrist) introduced the discipline to Finland. At the same time, though unsettled by the burgeoning atonal movement in Europe, the composer nonetheless seems intent on pushing tonality to its very limits, making the most of recurrent dissonance.

For some, Sibelius consciously reflects the tension that would soon erupt into a war of cataclysmic proportions. Others read a deeper psychological meaning into the expressive depth of the work, seeing in it the composer's ever-present fear of cancer, for which he had recently been treated and which he was convinced would return.